Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake in eastern Balochistan Province, Pakistan.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km in the Kirthar Mountains of eastern Balochistan Province, Pakistan, roughly 34 km southeast of the city of Surab, slightly before 6.20 pm local time (slightly before 1.20 pm GMT) on Friday 18 October 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this event, though it was reportedly felt across much of Balochistan and Sind Provinces.

The approximate location of the 18 October 2013 Kirthar Mountains Earthquake. Google Maps.

The Kirthar Mountains lie on the boundary between the Indian Plate, to the southeast and the Eurasian Plate to the west. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Kirthar Mountains as well as Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

In addition to this the Arabian Plate is being subducted along the Makran Subduction Zone to the south of Balochistan, passing under the province, which sits on the southern Eurasian Plate, as it sinks into the Earth. The two plates do not move past one another smoothly, but continuously break apart and then stick together until the pressure builds up sufficiently to cause another break, leading to Earthquakes in the process. In addition to this the Eurasian Plate is scraping sedimentary material off the leading edge of the Arabian Plate as it is subducted, forming an accretionary prism of material over the subduction zone up to 7.5 km think in places. This takes the form of a series of parallel folded hill ranges running east to west across the province and Sistan & Baluchistan Province in neighbouring Iran.

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About Me

Studied Palaeobiology & Evolution at the University of Portsmouth, Geosciences via the Open University & Ecology and Conservation at Christchurch University, Canterbury.
Have worked in wildlife based tourism, mineral exploration, development, conservation, education & environmental chemistry. Occasionally write articles for papers and magazines.

This Blog would be impossible without the work of countless scientists (and others) throughout the world. Where possible I do my best to credit them, but there will always be many more who remain unmentioned; this does not imply I am ungrateful for their contributions. Any errors or inaccuracies are, of course, my own.